3,842 Shares in West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) Acquired by OFI Invest Asset Management

OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,842 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock, valued at approximately $1,215,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Amundi lifted its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 39.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 331,781 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock worth $111,780,000 after buying an additional 93,692 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 19,464 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 35,984 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $11,938,000 after purchasing an additional 4,483 shares during the period. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC raised its position in West Pharmaceutical Services by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,922 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in West Pharmaceutical Services in the fourth quarter valued at $543,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded West Pharmaceutical Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America lifted their target price on West Pharmaceutical Services from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wolfe Research started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on West Pharmaceutical Services from $470.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on West Pharmaceutical Services in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $344.00.

West Pharmaceutical Services Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE WST opened at $231.55 on Monday. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $197.01 and a twelve month high of $400.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $295.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $305.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.74 billion, a PE ratio of 34.61, a PEG ratio of 6.74 and a beta of 1.09.

West Pharmaceutical Services (NYSE:WST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The medical instruments supplier reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. West Pharmaceutical Services had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 17.03%. The firm had revenue of $748.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $739.59 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

West Pharmaceutical Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. West Pharmaceutical Services’s payout ratio is 12.56%.

West Pharmaceutical Services Profile

West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells containment and delivery systems for injectable drugs and healthcare products in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in two segments, Proprietary Products and Contract-Manufactured Products.